Chapter 308

Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family matters.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi's quarrelsome drama, although it had escalated to the Dayuan meeting, yet because they were both outsiders, and also because of the tragic incident of Yi Zhonghai's death and disappearance as evidence on the left, Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui, the two of them, dared not deeply intervene in the Jia Family's family conflict, left hand Jia Zhangshi, right hand Qin Huairu, favoring either side would be bad, in order not to bring trouble upon themselves, with a muddled mindset, they gave each side fifty heavy blows.

They all bear responsibility.

They all need to recognize their own mistakes.

That incident.

It was like a watershed.

It made the relationship between Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu never return to what it was before.

They couldn't be bothered to pretend.

Upon meeting, they stared at each other with hateful eyes.

Jia Zhangshi scolded Qin Huairu for being unfilial, a beast, tearing down the bridge after crossing the river, ignoring her former mother-in-law, a classic case of ingratitude.

Qin Huairu retorted, calling Jia Zhangshi a cold-blooded bastard, saying all her years of effort had gone to the dogs, watching herself go sweep the toilet without even blinking.

The war between the two widows.

It spread to Bangeng and Xiao Dang.

Jia Zhangshi's meaning was that even if Qin Huairu married An Jiahe, she would still be the mother of Xiao Dang and Bangeng, and the two children's food, drink, and bodily functions were all Qin Huairu's responsibility.

Taking advantage of An Jiahe, letting him help the Jia Family raise the children.

Qin Huairu dissatisfied with Jia Zhangshi's scheming, also took a dislike to Xiao Dang and Bangeng, telling the two children to spend more time with Jia Zhangshi, in the name of love, driving away the two little white-eyed wolves.

Jia Zhangshi shouted for Xiao Dang and Bangeng to go to An Jiahe's house to eat, while Qin Huairu had Bangeng bring Xiao Dang to reunite with Jia Zhangshi.

They treated Xiao Dang and Bangeng as a ball in their game.

Kicking them back and forth.

You come, I go.

That was quite lively.

Jia Zhangshi called Qin Huairu a little bitch.

Qin Huairu again pointed at Jia Zhangshi's nose and cursed him as an old tortoise bastard.

……

Shazhu, who was at the Yagangchang.

That day.

Suddenly received a letter.

On the envelope clearly written were the words 'He Yuzhu, head of the Yagangchang cafeteria'.

A letter addressed to himself.

Shazhu's first thought was of his father who had gone to Baocheng over ten years ago.

That is He Daqing.

He thought it was a letter from He Daqing asking about his specific situation, and then asking whether Yushui had married and had children.

But when Shazhu's gaze fell on the characters 'He Yuzhu' on the envelope, he overturned his conclusion.

He Daqing could not possibly write such delicate handwriting; his writing, which Shazhu had seen, was twisted and especially ugly, unpleasant to look at.

In other words.

This is a letter from a girl.

Who?

Shazhu racked his brains for an answer, going through everyone he knew in his mind, especially female comrades, one by one, but ultimately came up empty.

He thought and thought.

Still he could not think of a specific person.

It seemed no female comrade would write him a letter.

He looked outside.

Saw no one paying attention to him.

He tore open the seal of the notepaper and took out the letter inside.

He read it carefully.

Upon reading it.

Instantly an uproar, a feeling of losing his soul, came over Shazhu.

As if being tailed by King Yama, Shazhu was frightened out of his wits; at once he stuffed the notepaper he held into his sleeve, turned his head and saw the envelope still lying on the table, and in a panic shoved the envelope into his pocket.

The reason he was so shocked.

Was because the person who wrote this letter was Lou Xiaoe.

Without even looking at the letter's content, just the fact that Lou Xiaoe had written him a letter was enough to make Shazhu completely explode.

What the Lou Family represents.

Shazhu, who has lived two lives, knows this all too well.

To call it a disaster is not an exaggeration.

Whoever gets involved with them suffers misfortune.

Why Xu Daming's father let Xu Daming draw a clear line with the Lou Family stems from this very concern, not wanting the Xu family to meet a ruined fate because of the Lou Family.

Lou Xiaoe followed her parents to Hong Kong Island, and despite the great distance, wrote herself a letter.

After the incident.

Shazhu does not know what consequences Lou Xiaoe will face; he only knows he himself will not have a good outcome.

If Shazhu were the sort who could eat his fill while the whole family stayed unconcerned, he would not have this worry at all; Lou Xiaoe writing him a letter would just be a letter.

Afraid of nothing.

Afraid of nothing.

The problem is that the current Silly Zhu is not alone; he has a family, a wife and children.

Translation: "The problem is that the current Shazhu is not alone; he has a family, a wife and children." Keep faithful. So: 【62】 The problem is that the current Shazhu is not alone; he has a family, a wife and children.

Yu Li, Weiguo, and Yushui are all people Shazhu cares about; he absolutely cannot let certain matters implicate these people he cares about.

Be careful.

In the end, there is no mistake.

Sail carefully, and the boat will last ten thousand years.

Ah!

Shazhu let out a long sigh, seeing that he was the only one in the small hut.

The heart suspended in midair finally settled a bit; with no outsiders present, no one would know this was a letter Lou Xiaoe wrote to Shazhu, giving him room to maneuver.

To speak without exaggeration.

Seeing the letter's author call herself Lou Xiaoe, at that instant sweat drenched Shazhu's clothes, his scalp tingled, his mind went hazy, and faintly he perceived the black-and-white impermanence brandishing mourning staffs approaching him.

One can see how much pressure this letter brought to Shazhu.

Following the principle of caution and prudence.

He took the note from his sleeve, then took out an envelope from his pocket, placed the note back into the envelope, and carefully hid it in his shirt pocket.

He feared that if it fell and someone picked it up, it would implicate the He family's lives.

Shazhu fastened all the buttons on his shirt pocket.

In doing things, one must aim for flawless success.

This letter must not be known to outsiders; he also must find a quiet, no‑one‑around spot to sneak a look at its content, then afterwards obliterate all traces.

Standing at the doorway.

After calming his emotions, he uneasily felt the note inside his shirt pocket with his hand, confirmed it was all right, then stepped out of the hut.

"Master." Thus: Thus: Mahua showed a concerned look, "Who sent the letter??"

Some things.

No matter how close the relationship.

still cannot be spoken.

"After leaving for over ten years without a word, now he shows up—I really owe him."

Shazhu casually made up an excuse, getting He Daqing to come out and take the blame.

As a father, after being gone so many years with no word, he ought to do something for Shazhu.

Everyone in the canteen knows about Shazhu's family affairs.

They knew that over ten years ago, He Daqing, for the sake of a widow, abandoned sixteen‑year‑old Shazhu and six‑ or seven‑year‑old Yushui, ran off with a widow surnamed Bai to Baocheng to raise someone else's children, leaving the siblings to suffer greatly.

Unconsciously, following Shazhu's words, they imagined where the letter came from.

They believed Shazhu's nonsense.

They thought He Daqing wrote this letter.

No one suspected Lou Xiaoe.

Even if Shazhu told them the truth, these people could not believe it.

Lou Xiaoe was Xu Daming's wife; even after divorce, she would write to Xu Daming, not to his good brother Shazhu.

……

Siheyuan.

Jia Family.

For over ten days, Jia Zhangshi, who had been given cold looks by Qin Huairu, took the opportunity while Xiao Dang and Bangeng were present to do ideological work on the Jia family's two little white‑eyed wolves.

He also sensed that something was a bit off.

He worried that his forces were too weak to be a match for Qin Huairu and An Jiahe.

He wanted to unite the Jia family's descendants Bangeng and Xiao Dang before him, joining forces with her to oppose Qin Huairu.

These days.

Jia Zhangshi finally understood the situation.

They are all ungrateful wretches.

Relying on Qin Huairu.

Completely unreliable.

As the Jia family's elderly widow, both emotionally and logically she could only rely on herself.

Bangeng and Xiao Dang are Qin Huairu's children, but they bear the Jia surname and are thus Jia family members; joining forces, they could well be a match for Qin Huairu and An Jiahe.

"Bangeng!"

"Grandma!"

"Xiao Dang!"

Xiao Dang did not respond to Jia Zhangshi the way Bangeng did; she stared with anxious eyes, looking at Jia Zhangshi in confusion, her gaze hinting at a hint of unease.

Such a situation.

Jia Zhangshi, who favored males over females and personally caused this, left an indelible image of a bad grandmother in young Xiao Dang's mind.

Perhaps Xiao Dang still thinks she is the Jia family granddaughter whom Jia Zhangshi privately cursed as a money‑losing good‑for‑nothing!

Using Jia Zhangshi's own words to describe it.

"Xiao Dang, you will sooner or later belong to another family; eating so much is pointless—you're just eating for someone else."

"Bangeng will someday uphold the Jia family line and produce heirs for the Jia family; he needs to eat more."

This point.

Xiao Dang couldn't compare to Bangeng.

Being singled out by Jia Zhangshi is to be expected.

On the contrary.

When Xiao Dang faced Jia Zhangshi, an instinctive fear arose; in recent days, there has also been an incident where Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu treated Xiao Dang and Bangeng like a ball, kicking them back and forth.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi is like seeing a cat's mouse; one thinks only of avoiding her.

At the critical moment.

The Thief Saint stepped forward.

Although Bangeng has stolen everywhere in the Siheyuan and is despised by the neighbors, he possesses qualities unknown to outsiders.

Protecting his sister.

Over the past few years, whenever Bangeng was involved in a theft, Xiao Dang participated ninety-nine percent of the time.

To find the reason, it's simply that Xiao Dang was hungry, there was no food at home, and Bangeng, wanting Xiao Dang to eat and drink well, stole all over the Siheyuan—taking the east family's cabbage and the west family's sweet potatoes.

Shazhu, because of this, in his previous life gave Bangeng a few more looks, thinking Bangeng had the demeanor of an older brother.